Various apparatuses have been designed to cut grown sod from a first location and thereafter replant the cut bulk sod in a second location, while maintaining healthy sod life. However, it has been found that the bulk sod removed from the ground can be cut into smaller portions termed sprigs, and thereafter dispersed about the area to be planted, while maintaining a healthy sod growth. The improvement of the instant invention maximizes the area planted from a portion of bulk sod.
Numerous apparatuses have also been designed to plant the aforementioned sprigs. One such apparatus is a Sprig Planting Apparatus embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,785 to Duffy. This patent teaches a sprig planting apparatus adapted to distribute and press grass sprigs into the ground having a sprig hopper mounted on a portable frame for holding grass sprigs to be planted, a conveyor for transporting the sprigs from the hopper to an opening in the frame for planting, a sprig distributing device for distributing the sprigs on the ground to be planted, and a plurality of discs rotatably suspended below the frame for pressing the grass sprigs into the ground to be planted. This device, although capable of planting sprigs, is nonetheless limited to applications and locations where precut sprigs are available. Further, inasmuch as it is known in the art that firming soil subsequent to pulling a disc over it substantially increases the likelihood of a successful plant, the present apparatus is again not capable of efficient and reliable operation.
Another sod planting apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,517 to Stevens et al. This apparatus utilizes a vertically oriented chute for receiving and feeding a strip of sod to a rotating cutting mechanism. The cutting mechanism cuts the gravitationally fed strips of sod into smaller generally square pieces of sod, which are thereafter transported to the ground by a discharging means. This apparatus, although not dependent upon the availability of the plugs, also presents substantial limitations. First, inasmuch as the strips of sod are gravitationally fed to the cutting means through feeder chutes, no control as to the feed rate is available, and therefore, the output rate of the apparatus is substantially limited in controllability. The feeder chutes are also manufactured to be of sufficient cross section as to accommodate various thickness' of sod. However, this additional cross sectional area used to accommodate thicker strips of sod allows for the thinner strips of sod to bind in the feeder chutes, and therefore hinder the efficient operation of the apparatus. Further, the rotational speed of the cutting means of this apparatus is controlled by the power take off of the vehicle pulling the apparatus. Thus, the sod distribution rate of the apparatus is often not even, as the operator must carefully match the ground speed of the apparatus with the rotation speed of the cutting means as determined by the pressure of the power take off in order to obtain even distribution of the small squares of sod on the ground to be planted. Additionally, the small squares of sod, once cut from the bulk strip of sod, are carried to the ground to be planted through a plurality of delivery chutes. These chutes, which have a tendency to clog, further hindering even distribution of the small squares on the ground to be planted, thus reducing the effectiveness and efficiency of the apparatus.
Therefore, in view of the obvious limitations and deficiencies of the present apparatuses, there is a well found need for a self-contained apparatus capable of converting bulk sod into grass sprigs, and thereafter planting such sprigs. Further, there is a need for a sprig producing and planting apparatus having a reliable means for feeding bulk sod to a shredder for producing sprigs, and a reliable means for evenly distributing the grass sprigs produced on the ground to be planted.